Indians drop opener 48-22

Hillsboro’s Luke Gallimore breaks free for a run in Friday night’s game against Western Brown.

Robert Stegbauer | The Times-Gazette

The Hillsboro High School Indians were set to come back on onto the field after halftime on Friday night Western Brown, but while they were getting stretched and ready, the game was halted due to lightning. After several additions to the delay, the game was ultimately postponed until Saturday morning at 10 a.m., with the Indians down 20-0 to the Broncos. Saturday morning, the Indians came back on the field and were able to get a few scores before the game ended. Western Brown added to their score as well and the game ended in a 48-22 loss.

The Hillsboro defense was in great form as the game began Friday night, as the Indians opened their 2016 season with the Western Brown Broncos on the Broncos home field. The game began with a snag though, as the Indians were the first to get the ball after Western Brown deferred the coin toss. The ball was kicked off by Western Brown and hit a Hillsboro player and a Bronco was there to jump on it, giving Western Brown the ball. The Broncos got to start their first drive from the Hillsboro 31 yard line after the fumble recovery, but the Indians’ defense stood strong and forced a four plays and out. Western Brown went for it on fourth down but Hillsboro forced an incomplete pass.

The Indians didn’t have any more luck than their opponents in their first offensive set and were forced to punt after bringing up fourth down.

Neither team gave up any ground until Western Brown finally scored late in the first quarter on a 55 yard pass to a wide open receiver to make it 7-0 after the point after.

The Indians gained very little ground on their drive after the Bronco touchdown and were forced to punt and Western Brown took advantage and scored on their third play with a 69 yard TD pass. The point after was no good and the score was 13-0.

The Indians ran one play in their next drive and the clock hit zero and that was the end of the first quarter.

The Broncos scored again in the second quarter to make the score 20-0 but Hillsboro was able to make a little noise in the drive right after.

In the drive, the Indians were able to tally three first down thanks to some big gains on the ground from Deon Burns, Luke Gallimore and Hunter Chain, but the drive was ended when Western Brown intercepted a pass around the ten yard line. Luke Gallimore intercepted a pass of the Bronco’s in their next drive but the Indians could not connect on three passes and the quarter ended bringing the game to halftime.

On Saturday morning, the game picked up and there was a lot more scoring than there was on Friday night.

The Western Brown team was able to add another touchdown towards the end of the third quarter to make it 27-0 in their favor. The Indians scored their first touchdown of the season on a run by Deon Burns with just under 11 minutes to go in the fourth and Hillsboro added a successful two-point conversion to bring the score to 27-8. Western Brown responded with a touchdown of their own a little over two minutes later to make it 34-8.

On the kickoff after the Bronco touchdown, Josh Keets took the ball all the way to the house for a 75 yard return and a touchdown to bring his team a little closer with the score 34-16. Hillsboro was able to score again after stopping the Broncos, this time on a 64 yard run by Luke Gallimore but Western Brown answered right back on their next drive to make it 41-22. The Broncos added one more score before the end of regulation to bring the final tally to 48-22.

Hillsboro will travel to Goshen this Friday night and that game is set to start at 7 p.m.

Reach Robert Stegbauer at 937-393-3456 ext. 1679 or on Twitter @RStegbauer.

Hunter Chain breaks up a Bronco’s pass in the game Friday night.

http://timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Chain-2.jpgHunter Chain breaks up a Bronco’s pass in the game Friday night. Robert Stegbauer | The Times-Gazette

Hillsboro’s Luke Gallimore breaks free for a run in Friday night’s game against Western Brown.

http://timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Gallimore-2.jpgHillsboro’s Luke Gallimore breaks free for a run in Friday night’s game against Western Brown. Robert Stegbauer | The Times-Gazette